The truth must be told

Saturday, October 9, 2010

By Gordon Smith gordonesmith@verizon.net

In the United States, we have emphasized political correctness over the last several decades. Many of us do not publicly express some of our thoughts and opinions because they are not considered "politically correct". For this article I am going to tell it like it is. I am tired of one-sided attacks against Americans and Christianity. In the Washington Times this week Mr. Anjem Choudary, a radical British Muslim, stated that the Islamic flag would fly over the White House. In the article he claims that Sharia law will govern the entire world. He then proceeded to quote from the Prophet Mohammed that "the final hour will not come until Muslims conquer the White House ". Another version of this quotation, again attributed to Mohammed, is that "a small portion of Muslims will rise and conquer the White House." (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/4/islamic-flag-over-the-whi...[1]).

If you or I said that a small number of Americans would conquer the Holy Mosque in Mecca and raise a Christian flag there would be an outrage from the Muslim communities all over the world. Like the Danish cartoonist who portrayed Mohammed in an unfavorable light, we would find a fatwa upon our heads. The Organization of the Islamic Conference is campaigning to have Islamaphobia recognized as a form of racism that can be prosecuted under international law. If I condemn the mosque near the site of the 9/11 attack, I am a racist in their eyes. I am not objecting into their right to build the Cordoba Mosque in New York City, rather I am objecting to the location of that mosque. That ground is sacred to us. When I suggested moving the proposed site in a previous article some branded me a racist. Under the proposed international legislation, I could be arrested, tried and jailed for racism. Whatever happened to my First Amendment right of free speech? By objecting to the location of the mosque I am not a racist. Rather, I believe that I am an American who wants to preserve a sacred site as a monument to our citizens who died, were injured, or who lost love ones in the attack.

Several weeks ago, there was an uproar over a Florida pastor who wanted to publicly burn the Koran. The story went viral on the Internet and resulted in Muslim protests throughout the world. In Afghanistan, a country we are protecting with the blood of our troops, a US flag was burned while an angry crowd chanted "death to the Christians." US officials requested that the church call off this disgraceful insult to another religious faith. Our government believed it would lead to violence against Americans and would result in persecution of Christians. Interpol issued a warning that there would be tragic consequences if this pastor proceeded with his plan to burn the Koran. When he canceled the burning, the uproar continued. It seems the threat to burn the Koran, even though it never happened, will be used as justification for further attacks against infidels.

Meanwhile there was absolutely no outrage when over 200 copies of the Bible were burned in the Iranian town of Sardasht. (http://focusuk.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/iran-burns-hundreds-of-bibles/[2]). So it is okay to burn Bibles by the hundreds but by gosh you better not touch one page of a Koran. Where is the religious freedom in this? Which religion is tolerant and which one is not? Am I a racist for pointing out that Muslims burned Christian Bibles?

We only have to look at past acts to understand why the Christian faith is constantly under attack from a small portion of the followers of Islam. Occasionally, the hatred of Christians erupts into genocide. Turkish Muslims wanted to cleanse the Ottoman Empire of Christians. They slaughtered or starved one and a half million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. This was not the only massacre of Armenians by Turkish Muslims. The Hamidian Massacres of 1894 to 1896 resulted in the needless slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Armenians. Approximately 30,000 Armenians were killed in the Adana Massacre of 1909. Where was the outrage then? Who reported it?? Did anyone care? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide#Hamidian_Massacres[3]. 2C_1894. E2.80.931896). At least one person did. It is claimed by some that Adolph Hitler used the 1915 genocide as an early model for his elimination of the Jews in Europe. We have all heard of the Holocaust. It did not start with gas chambers. Rather it started with Turkish style roundups and executions of the chosen people. Initially soldiers used bullets to kill adult Jews and their children. But this was inefficient. Hitler's increased efficiency by moving the Jews and other "undesirables" to concentration camps equipped with gas chambers and crematoriums.

We must look at the Armenian massacres in a different light. I believe that this atrocity demonstrates the overall objective of the radical Muslims. Today they are burning Bibles. Today they are slaughtering people in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our troops are attempting to stabilize the region. Islamic jihad is a constant threat to Christians around the world. Jihadists have no problem killing others with suicide bombs, improvised explosive devices, car bombs, or attacks on subways and public places. They already demonstrated what they can do with four passenger planes. Do we need another incident to understand that these terrorists hate America, our freedoms and our faith?

Today, we must look to the massacre of Coptic Christians in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. Egyptian President Mubarak openly ignores the ongoing murders of Copts. When alleged murderers are occasionally caught, they are often released for lack of evidence. (http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=35224[4]). Yet our country continues to provide over $2 billion a year in foreign aid to Egypt. Why do we give foreign aid to countries that openly persecute and kill Christians?

In my opinion, there are only a few Muslim jihadists who actively engage in terrorist acts. Some Muslims have condemned the actions of the radicals and have suffered for it. I support Muslims and members of any faith who want to openly and peacefully practice their religion. Our country welcomes all people regardless of faith to come here, build a life for themselves and their families, and prosper. As they prosper, our country prospers as well. We are a nation of immigrants of many faiths from many lands. America is one of the few countries where people are not persecuted for their beliefs. Let not a few terrorists destroy the American dream, but please, remember that we must speak out against senseless killings and genocide by radicals of any faith.

We must protect religious freedom. Whether people are Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Wiccans, or atheists, we must protect their right to practice their beliefs so that all of us can worship openly and without fear. If one small group wants to destroy another then all of us must stand together to protect the religious rights of all of our citizens. In closing, you may want to study the plight of the Coptic Christians. They are being slaughtered today as the Armenians were in the early 20th century. Remember the oft-quoted words of Edmond Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".